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On this visit Bristol University asked me to accompany 20 of their 4th year medical students and four of their tutors on their visit to Kitovu and Villa Maria hospitals. This is the fifth year in which Bristol has sent students for a three-week study period in Uganda. The hospitals receive financial support in return for hosting the students who receive a fascinating insight into a completely different medical and social environment.

Most of them gave a blood donation, many for the first time.

In addition to financial support, Bristol sent a large amount of useful medical equipment

While at Kitovu I was able to review our projects there. The staff loan scheme goes from strength to strength and is a great help for staff recruitment and retention, which are always major problems. We have given loans which this scheme uses as working capital and they have always been promptly repaid.
Another loan, now repaid, was used to complete the x-ray department which will shortly be fully functional, including a CT scanner which is a rarity in a mission hospital.

They are in the process of building a new ward with single rooms. Our loan has enabled completion of the ground floor and patients will be using it in the very near future. A second floor will be built in due course as funds become available.

Our next big project is the refurbishment of the maternity ward and operating theatre at Freda Carr Hospital, Ngora, in north eastern Uganda which is a poor area.
Planning for this is progressing well in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Kampala Central and we expect to submit an application for a Rotary Global Grant this autumn. The vocational training team which visited from Rotary District 1090 this spring was enthusiastically received. We are optimistic that we can initiate a major transformation in this rundown hospital along the lines of the work that succeeded so well at Kamuli in the past. The buildings to be refurbished are shown below:
Maternity ward Operating theatre:

This project will greatly improve the lives of mothers, babies and surgical patients in this area.

This year has seen strong support for the proposed Rotary Global Grant to refurbish the maternity facilities at Freda Carr Hospital, Ngora in eastern Uganda. The grant will also include regular visits from the Vocational Training Team which visited this hospital in April for the first time.

We are profoundly grateful for the support we have received from everyone.
Planning for the project in partnership with the Rotary Club of Kampala Central is now in the final stages and submission to The Rotary Foundation for approval is anticipated this autumn.

In April 2017 Rotary District 1090 sent a team of a doctor and two midwives to Freda Carr Hospital, Ngora, to train hospital staff and students at the School of Nursing and Midwifery in lifesaving skills for mothers and babies. This is the first 1090 VTT visit to Ngora which is set to receive ongoing visits as part of a Rotary global grant funded project to improve facilities and services at the hospital.

Bristol University medical school has sent 4th year medical students for SSC study in Uganda each year since 2013. Twenty students and four tutors arrived for a three week stay at Kitovu and Villa Maria hospitals

Rotary District 1090 has sent a Vocational Training Team (VTT) to Kamuli Mission Hospital for the fifth time. They have trained midwives, nurses and doctors in essential life-saving skills for mothers and babies. Death rates for mothers and babies have fallen significantly since their first visit in 2014.

Kumi hospital is the second one to receive an orthopaedic drill donated by Rotary Doctor Bank. Most hospitals are only have hand drills which make operations a lot longer and therefore less safe for the patient. The drill has been developed by Arbutus Medical in Vancouver, Canada. It is a non-profit venture in collaboration with the University.